Women's Soccer

Bronco Soccer Insider

Welcome to the the Bronco Soccer Insider! Former SCU women's soccer manager Amy Moraczewski provided the inside scoop to the summer activities of the nationally-prominent Broncos.

Amy is a senior marketing major who plans to work in sports marketing when she graduates from Santa Clara. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, she provided a glimpse at the personal side of one of the country's top college soccer programs.

"Thanks everyone and welcome to a look at what some of the Bronco soccer players did over the summer I'm thrilled that I can share with all the fans just how awesome SCU and its women's soccer program is and give you an insider's view of the players and coaches.

The Santa Clara women's soccer team spent the summer working hard on the field, both as players and as coaches. Most players coached soccer camps, either at SCU or at schools near their hometowns. A few players worked office jobs or did other random things to earn money. But, everyone managed to make time for vacation either with their families or visiting teammates.

Elyse Shelger worked summer camps at IMG Academy in Florida, where she attended high school, while she played in the W-League. She returned home to Houston for the final two weeks of summer before coming back to Santa Clara.

At home in Santa Rosa, Catherine "Cat" Sigler babysat and coached at camps, before joining her family on a vacation to Hawaii. Meagan Snell worked camps in Santa Barbara then traveled to Hawaii for a few weeks as a babysitter.

Five Broncos competed at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships during the last week in July at Disney's Wide World of Sports® Complex in Orlando, Florida. Jordan Angeli and the Colorado Rush finished 1-1-1 in the U-19 division.

In the U-18 division, Brittany Klein and Courtney Lewis represented California-South with the Laguna Hills Eclipse, while Amanda Poach and Hayley Siegel represented Maryland with Bethesda Excel. After going 1-0-2 and 2-0-1 in group play, respectively, the two teams met in the final. Brittany and Courtney's Eclipse squad emerged victorious with a 3-2 overtime victory.

Besides playing and coaching soccer, a number of the Broncos were busy with rehab, classes and other jobs. Carrie Schuler attended summer school and Micaela Esquivel took MCAT classes to prepare for the admission exam to medical school, which she plans to take in May.

Kelly Giddings worked at Electric Boat in Rhode Island, where she assisted with web design related to the development of a new Navy submarine. Besides working camp, Kendall Doherty worked at Apperson Print Management as an office assistant, mainly doing database management. Lauren Zealear served as a double in the upcoming soccer movie, "Her Best Move," in which a number of players appeared as extras.

Although the Broncos were dispersed across the country during the summer, several players planned trips to visit their teammates. Tina Estrada, Cat Sigler and Marian Dalmy attended regional soccer championships in Colorado to support their teammates from the sidelines.

Kira Sarkisian traveled across the country to spend time with Jess Ballweg at the Jersey Shore, although she almost did not make it after confusion with the subway system nearly left her stranded in the most dangerous area of New Jersey. While visiting Casey Pleas and friends from other athletic teams in Seattle, Julie Ryder found her calling as a cleaning lady. On vacation, and after returning to the Bay Area, Julie provided her cleaning service at several homes.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, Micaela, Julie, Tina, Tiffany Roberts and I drove down South to stay with Kendall and her family in Los Angeles. On this trip we discovered our new favorite song, "My Humps" by Black Eyed Peas, as well as our new favorite movie, "Team America: World Police."

The trip turned out to be somewhat hazardous, as everyone tried to keep up with Kendall's younger brother, Conor, skateboarding and lighting fireworks. When Tina wiped out on the skateboard ramp, we decided that Kendall's father, Kelly, had invited us down so his daughter would get more playing time when everyone came back with injuries. Luckily, Julie reminded Tina to "click it or ticket," so her helmet was tightly fastened.

While we were in L.A., we visited Hollywood, Venice Beach and Manhattan Beach, where we challenged some locals to a game of beach volleyball. Our drive home was quite entertaining as well, blasting "My Humps" from L.A. to Santa Clara and eating an entire watermelon (which Micaela and I insisted we buy at Casa de Fruta).

After a couple months of work, visiting family and friends and individual training, the team, joined by the new freshmen, reunited on the Mission Campus to begin preseason training. Following a week of double-days, the team was rewarded with a trip to the American River to go camping and whitewater rafting. The Broncos open the 2005 season at home on Friday, August 26th at 7 p.m. against Arizona State."